Reports: Angels ace John Lackey close to signing with Red Sox

APIf media reports are true, John Lackey will share the Red Sox rotation next season with Jon Lester and Josh Beckett.

Ron Burgundy: Boy, that escalated quickly... I mean, that really got out of hand fast!

Champ Kind: It jumped up a notch.

Ron Burgundy: [surprised] It did, didn't it?

Brick Tamland: Yeah, I stabbed a man in the heart.

Ron Burgundy: I saw that! Brick killed a guy! Did you throw a trident?

Brick Tamland: Yeah, there were horses, and a man on fire, and I killed a guy with a trident. :

-- Anchorman

So, there you have it. The Red Sox have their trident.

Numerous reports suggest that Angels ace pitcher John Lackey has negotated a five-year, $85 million contract with the Red Sox virtually undetected, giving Boston another lynchpin in its starting rotation and the flexibility to deal Clay Buchholz or Casey Kelly for a slugger, should they deem it necessary.

To say this comes as a surprise is an understatement. The Red Sox were known to be interested in Blue Jays ace Roy Halladay, but Lackey's name wasn't connected to the Sox nearly at all this offseason, other than how it related to his master of the Sox in American League Division Series.

News of the Lackey signing came at virtually the same time that Sports Illustrated's Jon Heyman reported that Halladay has been traded to the Philadelphia Phillies in a three-team trade that sent former Phillies ace Cliff Lee to the Seattle Mariners. So, wow, you know? More to come later.